Lined tobacco pouches



P 1957 R. w. BEATTIE 2,804,899

LINED TOBACCO POUCHES Filed June 2'7, 1955 INVENTOR ROBE/3T ZSEATT/E A TToR/VEK United States Patent 0 "ice LINED TOBACCO POUCHES Robert W. Beattie, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Beattie Jet Products Inc., New York, N. 'Y., a corporation of New York Application June 27, 1955, Serial No. 518,069

14 Claims. (Cl. 150-48) This invention relates to tobacco pouches having removable linings, to the linings themselves and to the supports therefor.

In Patent No. 2,701,597 granted February 8, 1955 to William J. Levins, Jr. and Gerald M. Muscott, there is disclosed and claimed a tobacco pouch having a removable liner wherein the liner is held in expanded position and is removably retained in desired position in the outer pouch by means of a spring element which seats within the liner. Such construction has'many advantages, but since the issuance of that patent certain possibilities for improving upon the structure thereof have been discovered. As an example, the inclusion of the wire of the support within the liner along with the tobacco, though not detrimental to the tobacco if made of stainless steel or other suitable material, might nevertheless give the impression of being so to a prospective user. Also, the wire, though of considerable flexibility and resiliency, being located within the liner and down the sides thereof, sets rather definite limits to the boundaries of the liner. Thus, when one seeks to fill a pipe by inserting it in the liner the pipe is caused to. travel along the wire. This is particularly noticeable when the liner has been partially emptied. In some instances, depending upon'the shape and size of the pipe, the result would be that a certain quantity of tobacco would always be left in the bottom of the liner to become stale and dry, rather than being all removed, as was the intention of the inventors in that patent.

The instant invention, while preserving'the advantages of the construction of Patent No. 2,701,597, improves upon the construction and operation thereof in several respects. In the invention construction, the support for the liner not only holds the liner in the pouch indesired condition, but it also supports. the linerto render the same usable. while eliminating objections raised against prior art developments. Nevertheless, the construction of the invention-is simple and economical. The manner of assembling and disassembling the liner and support, when needed, is obvious so that .thepipesmoker would have no difficulty in replacing the liner or inserting refills as the case might be.

The liner in accordance with the invention issupported in a manner that renders .it entirely free to conform to the contour of the pipe and thusenhances the facility for filling a pipe. Furthermore, there is no wire-within the liner to be misconstrued by anyone as detrimental -to the storage of tobacco therein. Still, the support for the liner effectively seats and maintains the .same within the outer pouch envelope and maintains'that envelope in desired supported position.

' It is, accordingly, an object ,of' the invention to.provide improvements in tobacco'pouches incorporating removable liners.

Another object is to provide improvements "in such liners themselves.

1 Still another object is to provide improvements inthe Patented Sept. 3, 1957 manner of supporting the liners within the outer pouch liner may be readily assembled and disassembled.

A still further object is to-provide for the maintaining of soft flexible liners for pouch envelopes in open usable position while maintaining the supports wholly exteriorly of the liners.

Further and more detailed objects of the invention will i in part be obvious and in part be pointed out as the description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing proceeds.

In that drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a complete pouch in accordance with the invention-showing the same in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same pouch showing the same in open position and with a fragment of the outer envelope broken away to expose the liner and show the mounting of the same.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the liner per se showing the preferred form of assembly of the same with its resilient support.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the resilient support per se.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary verticalsection taken on lines 5-5 of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one upper end of the liner and'support showing the preferred form of assembly of liner and support at this position.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of a modification of the assembly of Figs. 3 and 6.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on lines 9-9 of Fig. 7 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing a further modification of the invention.

The pouch of the invention can be generally considered as being formed of an exterior envelope, generally indicated at 1, receiving therewithin a removable liner, generally indicated at 2, and a resilient support for such liner generally indicated at 3. The support 3 carries the liner, and supports the same within the envelope 1 besides serving to hold that envelope in desiredposition. The envelope 1 has a pocket-like body portion formed of'front and back pieces 4 and 5, preferably'of pliable leather or other material having characteristicscomparable thereto. The front and back portions 4 and 5 are secured together and are capable of being variably spaced apart by means of a flexible gusset 6, which is joined to them around their borders and thus serves as both a spacer and joining member. This gusset is preferably of material somewhat softer and more pliable than that out of which the front and back portions 4 and 5 of the pocket are formed- Nevertheless, it should be of high gradelong lastingmaterial, since'it is subjectto constant flexing. a

The back 5 of the pocket, preferably extends up in- .tegrally to form the closing flap 7, which asshownin Fig. l is of the same width as the front andback andis long enough so it not-only has afclosing portion 8 to lie across the open end ofthepouch, but also has afiap which extends down to a position close to the bottorn of t-he front portion 4. Thus, besides. protecting the tobacco within it, the outer pouch envelope is an attractive, readily usable member which would readily fit ones pocket.

The removable liner 2 seats within the outer envelope 1 and serves to carry'the tobacco within it. This liner is preferably formed of lighter weight, less expensive material than the material of the outer envelope and, in fact, is preferably formed of a light weight textile or plastic material. Consideration and selection of materials here is given on one hand from the point of view of the liner being expendable and forming the container in which the tobacco is merchandised, or on the other hand, as being of a semi-permanent re-usable nature, which calls for it being made of a material with longer wearing qualities. In any event, it must, of necessity, be formed of material which retains the tobacco without contaminating it while helping to protect it against loss of moisture content.

Such lineris formed with symmetrical front and back portions and 11 with a joining portion 12 therebe tween. The front and back portions 10 and 11 are formed straight across the top, as seen at 13 and 14 and have convexly curved continuous side and bottom borders 15 and 16 commencing at one end of the top borders 13 and 14 and terminating at the other end thereof.

The joining portion 12 is secured to the borders 15 and 16 throughout their length, so as to form with them a suitable tobacco receptacle. Here, it is to be noted that thte securing may take various forms, depending upon the material out of which the liner 2 is formed. Besides the forming of the liner out of the three parts, 10, 1'1 and 12, it may of course be formed of merely two parts with the joining portion 12 secured to either the back or the front part, or if made of suitable plastic, the liner can be formed all in one piece. Furthermore, if the liner is employed as a receptacle for the merchandising of tobacco, one or the other of the back and front members 10 and 11 may be continued into a closing flap to overlie the opening and to be preferably sealed to the opposite member when the receptacle is filled and made ready to sale.

The effective supporting of the liner within the pouch 1 and, in fact, the maintaining of the pouch 1 in desired open condition is achieved by the use of a wire support member, generally indicated at 3. This member, as best seen in the Fig. 4 showing, is formed of oval loops 20 and 21, each of which terminates at the end thereof in a short outwardly projecting portion 22, with the portions 22 being spaced apart, yet joined together by transversely extending closing portions 23. Preferably, the member 3 is made out of one integral piece of wire of reasonable rigidity, but still of substantial resiliency, so that it will yield when that is necessary, but will otherwise maintain the form into which it is set. Obviously, though this member be all made out of one piece of wire, the ends of it would need to be joined, as by welding, at some suitable position therealong. This can suitably be done in the joining piece 23, where the joint is positioned, to protect it against flexing.

From the showing in Figs. 3 and 4, it is apparent that the sides 20 and 21 of the support 3 are curved in mating relationship with respect to the curve of the borders 15 and 16 of the liner, but are sufliciently larger than the borders of the insert, that they lie outside of those borders, being spaced outwardly therefrom. Thus, when the insert and support are assembled together, the insert, though held in position by the support and held open thereby, stillhas a certain amount of freedom of movement. It can thus be bulged here and there when a pipe is inserted therein for filling.

The support 3 is preferably detachably secured to the liner 2, though it may be permanently secured thereto if desired. The detachable securing is effected by means of suitable loop formations on theinsert through or into which parts of the support may be fed. Considerable freedom of action is present here due to the pliability of the liner and resiliency of its support. If detachability is not desired, the loops may be made tighter and may also be formed into position over the support as the liner and support are assembled together.

One of the loops referred to is substantially at the bottom position of the convexly curved borders of the liner. This, as shown in Fig. 3, and in enlarged cross section in Fig. 5, is formed by extending tabs 24 and 25 downwardly from the sides 10 and 11 and then lapping them in spaced relation with respect to the joining portion 12. They are then sealed to each other at the portion 26 where they overlap. The securing loop 27 so formed receives the bottom portions of the wire loops 20 and 21 therein in the remote corners thereof. Though the loop 27 should not be so long that it obstructs the feeding of the wire loops 20 and 21 therethrough, it should nevertheless lie far enough along the wire loops 20 and 21 to serve for holding the sides 10 and 11 of the liner apart, whether the liner be empty or not.

Additional receiving loops are provided at the ends of the open mouth of the liner to receive and retain the outwardly projecting portions 22, 23 of the wire loop and to thus mount or hang the liner in place within the support 3. These receivingloops are formed by extending the joining portion 12 up beyond the open mouth of the liner at 30 and widening it out in the form of lateral tabs 31 and 32. These tabs, as best shown in Fig. 6, are then turned in and lapped over in spaced relation with respect to the portion 30. They are suitably secured in such lapped position to form open loops for the recepntion of the outwardly extending end portions 22, 23 of the wire supporting member. The resiliency of the wire supporting member and pliability of the liner are suflicient to enable the assembly of the ends of the supporting member with the fully formed end loop members 30, 31, 32 by suitable manipulation. If desired, however, the joining or seaming of the receiving loop along the line 33 can be efiected after assembly of the liner with the supporting member. In any event, it will be apparent that loops formed by the members 30, 31, 32 at each end of the liner serve to mount the liner within the supporting wire element in the nature of suspending it from the ends of its open mouth. Thus, save for the restraint imposed by the loop 27 at the bottom and the effect of the same in holding the sides of the liner apart, the

' liner is free to move and be expanded as needed when a pipe is inserted therein for filling.

Besides acting as mounting loops, the portions 30 also cover the outwardly extending ends of the wire support and close ofi any space between thegusset 6 and the liner at the mouth of the pouch when the liner is mounted in the outer envelope 1.

The manner in which the wire support 3 serves to mount the liner in the envelope 1 and serves to maintain that envelope outwardly is comparable to the same action as is carried out by the wire member 15 in Patent No. 2,701,597. Also, the outer envelope here may be formed at the ends of its mouth with inwardly extending flaps to lie over the portions 30 where the liner is assembled with the outer envelope, as pointed out in said Patent No. 2,701,597.

An alternate manner of hanging the liner from the outwardly extending ends 22, 23 of the support 3 is shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. There the extension 35 of the joining portion lzeontinues out right around the joining portion 23 of the support and is turned under at 36 beneath that portion and beneath the portions 22. Also, this extension of the joining portion 12 is widened to provide a sealing. strip 37 extending outwardly beyond the portions 22 from both the upper and lower portions 35 and 36 of the extension. Thus, when the opposed portions of the strip. 37- are sealed together, a pocket is formed for the reception of the ends 22, 23. Those ends may be seated in this pocket after the 'same is formed or may have the pocket formed around them, as already deevent, the pockets act like the members 30 for the hanging of the liner within the supporting frame.

Another alternative for the mounting of the liner in the supporting frame is illustrated in 'Fig. 10. Here the front and back portions 10 and 11 of the liner are formed adjacent their upper ends with outwardly extending tabs 38 and 39. When these tabs are lapped over and 'sealed together at 40 they form an open loop 41 for -the--rece ption of the upper ends of thesides and 21 of the support 3. At this position the sides 20 and 21 are curved inwardly, so the loops 41 serve to support or hang the liner from the member 3 as do the horizontally extending constructions of Figs. 6 and 8. Here, also, the ends of the wire can be readily fished into the loops 41 after those loops are already formed, or the sealing of the loops may be effected after the liner is brought into position in the wire support. Locating the carrying loops for the liner 2 at this position provides further means for keeping the back and front portions 10 and 11 of the liner apart. Thus, this embodiment performs an additional function to that performed by the forms of Figs. 6 and 8.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the structure of the instant invention improves upon prior known structures involving pouch assemblies where supported liners are carried in outer envelopes. It does so by retaining all the desirable features of the prior art constructions, but eliminates the undesirable ones and improves upon the function of such liner when used for the filling of pipes. The invention has been shown and described from the standpoint of certain structural details in which it is embodied. It is not, however, to be considered as being limited by such showing, but, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, certain modifications or variations may be made in the structure as shown and described, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. It is, accordingly, intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A liner for a tobacco pouch formed of light weight flexible material comprising, front and back portions and a joining portion, said front and back portions having aligned substantially straight tops and having symmetrical side and bottom portions, said joining portion being secured to the borders of said symmetrical side and bottom portions and securing the same together while spacing them apart, a loop member formed on the exterior of said liner adjacent the meeting position of said straight tops with said sides of said front and back portions, said loop member extending transversely with respect to said joining portion and forming with the same an opening of substantially the same width as the width of said joining portion.

2. A liner as in claim 1 and including one of said loop members at each end of said straight tops.

3. A liner as in claim 1 and including an additional loop member extending across between said front and back portions and overlying said joining portion exteriorly thereof at a position intermediate the ends thereof.

4. A liner as in claim 1, said joining portion extending beyond said straight tops and said extending portion of said joining portion being formed with laterally extending tabs, said laterally extending tabs being lapped over and secured together in spaced relation with respect to said extending portion to form an open loop between the same and said extending portion.

5. A liner as in claim 1, said'loop member including an extension at the upper end of said joining portion, said extension being doubled back upon itself, said extension being widened laterally and said lateral extensions of said widened portion being seamed together whereby Said loop member forms a pocket with aclosed end, said pocket having an opening therein of substantially the same width as the width of said joining portion.

6. A liner'as in claim 1 and said loop member including outward extensions of said back and front portions adjacent the upper ends of the sides thereof, said extensions being in'the form of outwardly extending tabs, said tabs being turned inwardly to overlie said joining portion inspaced relation with respect thereto and said tabs being joined together to form with the opposed part of said joining portion an open loop of substantially the same width as the width of said joining portion.

7. A liner for a tobacco pouch formed of light weight flexible material comprising, front and back portions and a joining portion, said front and back portions having aligned substantially straight tops and having symmetrical side and bottom portions, said joining portion being secured to the borders of said symmetrical side and bottom portions and securing the same together while spacing them apart, an intermediate loop member formed on said liner exteriorly thereof intermediate the ends of said symmetrical side and bottom portions, said loop member extending from said front andback portions and transversely with respect to said joining portion and forming with said joining portion an opening of substantially the same width as the width of said joining portion.

8. In tobacco pouch construction, a liner and a support therefor, said liner being formed of light weight flexible material comprising, front and back portions and a joining portion, said front and back portions having substantially straight tops and having symmetrically continuous side and bottom border portions commencing at one end of said straight top and terminating at the other end thereof, said support comprising a resilient Wire element formed of loops substantially symmetrical with, but enlarged with respect to, said side and bottom borders of said liner, said loops being spaced apart and terminating in outwardly extending spacing and joining portions, said liner being located within said support, and said liner including outwardly extending loopsembracing said support and mounting said liner with respect thereto.

9. In pouch construction as in claim 8, said loops extending outwardly from said liner adjacent the upper end portions thereof.

10. In pouch construction as in claim 9, said loops embracing said outwardly extending spacing and joining portions of said support.

11. In pouch construction as in claim 9, said loops embracing the portions of said support closely adjacent and beneath said outwardly extending spacing and joining portions.

12. In pouch construction as in claim 9, and including a transversely extending bottom loop extending outwardly from said liner adjacent the bottom thereof, said bottom loom being formed with an opening therein of supstantially the same width as the width of said joining portion and said bottom loop embracing said support.

13. A tobacco pouch comprising an outer envelope, a liner therefor and a support for said liner and envelope, said outer envelope comprising front and back portions and a gusset around the sides and bottom of said front and back portions, said gusset being secured to said front and back portions and maintaining the same in variable spaced relationship, said envelope providing an open mouth at the upper end of said back and front portions and a cover portion extending from said back portion and formed to overlie said open mouth, said liner comprising front and back portions and a joining portion securing said front and back portions in spaced relation, said liner having an open top and said front and back portions of said liner being formed with symmetrical side and bottom portions, said support comprising a resilient wire member formed to overlie said side and bottom porti ns of 7 v a v '8 .said liner, means for carrying said liner within said supmeans comprising loop means carried by said liner and port and said support having outwardly extending poroverlying said support to mount said liner within said tions engaging the interior of said outer envelope to mainsupport. tain the same in extended relation. I

14 A tobacco pouch as in claim 13 and further charac- 5 References Cited in the fila Of this Pltellt terized by said support being formed of resilient wire H UNITED STATES PATENTS having spaced loops, said spaced loops having a contour mated to the contour of said symmetrical side and bottom 2532 portions of said liner, said liner lying within said support in spaced relation with respect thereto and said carrying 19 7 Levms et 1955 

